Paul Simpson said he had immense pride in his Carlisle United side for earning a point against Peterborough United on a night that was demanding in different ways.
The Blues boss felt the visitors were the best side Carlisle have faced this season.
He also said United were denied “stonewall” penalties by ref Scott Simpson whose decisions enraged the home crowd at Brunton Park.
But Jordan Gibson’s 96th-minute strike earned a 1-1 draw which manager Simpson felt was more than justified through the way Carlisle stuck to their task against Darren Ferguson’s men.
“I think the biggest thing was we got a point against a really good side,” said Simpson.
“Forget about the officials, we don’t have to talk about them. They’re big calls.
“I think the fact we’ve taken a point against a really good side, a strong side that’s been built up over a few years, we can take a hell of a lot of pride about that.”
Ronnie Edwards headed Posh in front only for Gibson to level in dramatic style.
Before the visitors had led, Carlisle were denied three strong penalty shouts when Sean Maguire appeared to be fouled by Edwards, when Peter Kioso pulled Gibson’s shirt, and then when Peterborough captain Kioso appeared to handle the ball.
“I’ve got the benefit of looking at the video again – they are absolutely stonewall penalties,” said Simpson.
“I got told during the game that they are but I’m not allowed to say – if I say to the fourth official that they are penalties and I’ve seen it on the video, it’s a straight red card. I have to bite my lip.
“The first one on Sean is absolute contact on his knee. The second one, the ball’s going onto Jordan Gibson’s chest and the full-back has got his arm stretched out which changes the direction.
“I’m led to believe there’s a third one where Jordan’s pulled back – I haven’t seen that so can’t comment.
“They’re big calls. That’s why officials are out there, to make those calls. I think we’re probably looking at four or five penalties that we’ve been denied so far this season – proper penalties, not even debatable ones.”
Simpson said his refereeing namesake looked “terrified” when he went to shake his hand after the game, and added: “I think he knows he’s made two huge mistakes and I know how the PGMOL system works, if they do their jobs properly he could be in trouble.”
On his team’s fightback and Gibson’s last-gasp leveller, the Blues boss said: “You’ve got to show desire, character, and not just get carried away and go thrashing at things – you’ve got to have a bit of composure.
“I think Jordan’s shown that over the last few weeks.
“As a team, we had a spell at the end of the first half when we started to get the ball down, we shifted it side to side, we got into the final third but didn’t maybe get the breaks but we didn’t produce the quality either.
“Second half I thought we had good spells as well. The players have shown a real good desire, brilliant attitude, real determination to keep going right to the end and that shows character.
Carlisle United 1-1 Peterborough United - as it happened
“Hopefully we can take that belief, character and personality into the next tough game.”
Simpson admitted Peterborough gave Carlisle a serious test particularly in the first half.
“I don’t think we’ve come up against a side who’s got that pace about them, in the likes of Ephrom Mason-Clark…maybe not Jonson Clarke-Harris but he’s a flipping good target man, he’s got quality when he flicks things round the corners.
“Kioso the right back’s got pace, [David] Ajiboye, [Ricky-Jade] Jones on the left…they’ve got real quality about them.
“I’ve got to be honest, ten or 15 minutes in I’m thinking, ‘Wow, this is gonna be a long night’. But once we’d weathered it I thought we calmed down, played well, passed the ball well, got into good areas, just didn’t quite find the quality we wanted.
“Second half we maybe had more possession because of the way I asked our players just to drop and sit and be patient, and wait for that opportunity to press.
“But I thought they stuck to it really well and we were excellent.”
Simpson, meanwhile, says he will look into the post-match incident which saw goalkeeping coach Dave Timmins receive a red card.
“I’m just going to have to wait and see,” the Carlisle boss said.
“The problem I find is that the fourth official is jumping up and down and trying to take the enjoyment out of football, stopping people celebrating and being happy.
“Surely we’re all in football to be happy and to enjoy moments like that. Because if we can’t, we probably should get out of it.
“Dave will be dealt with when I find out what exactly has gone on. He tells me he didn’t swear at him, I know he was angry because we felt as though there was an injustice against us.
“That’s human nature. There’s probably a different way that you have to deal with it and not get red carded but I have to wait and see what’s been said.”
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